As the world confronts overlapping crises, from accelerating climate change to the unchecked spread of misinformation, global risks are increasingly interconnected, compounding one another in ways that could overwhelm current institutions and systems.
This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the top 28 most important global risk as outlined in the United Nations Global Risk Report 2024.
Risk importance combines the likelihood and severity of a risk, with top risks seen as most likely to occur with severe impacts if or when they manifest.
Rankings are based on a survey of 1,100 stakeholders across 136 countries which includes representatives of government, industry, civil society, and academia.
What is the Most Important Risk the World is Facing?
Below, we show the top 28 most important global risks and their importance scores, according to the United Nations.
| Rank | Risk | Importance Score | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Climate Change Inaction | 37.2 | Environmental |
| 2 | Large-Scale Pollution | 36.0 | Environmental |
| 3 | Mis- and Disinformation | 35.4 | Political |
| 4 | Natural Hazard Risks | 35.0 | Environmental |
| 5 | Rise in Inequalities | 34.7 | Societal |
| 6 | Biodiversity Decline | 34.6 | Environmental |
| 7 | Geopolitical Tensions | 34.5 | Political |
| 8 | Natural Resource Shortages | 34.3 | Environmental |
| 9 | Mass Movement of People | 33.2 | Societal |
| 10 | Large-Scale War | 32.6 | Political |
| 11 | Biorisks | 32.3 | Societal |
| 12 | New Pandemic | 32.1 | Societal |
| 13 | Rule of Law Collapse | 32.0 | Political |
| 14 | Cybersecurity Breakdown | 31.7 | Technological |
| 15 | Global Financial Crisis | 31.6 | Economic |
| 16 | Weapons of Mass Destruction | 31.1 | Political |
| 17 | AI and Frontier Tech | 31.0 | Technological |
| 18 | Proliferation of Non-State Actors | 30.8 | Societal |
| 19 | Tech-Driven Power Concentration | 30.8 | Technological |
| 20 | Social Cohesion Collapse | 30.4 | Societal |
| 21 | Widespread Debt Crisis | 30.2 | Economic |
| 22 | Economic Fragmentation | 29.1 | Economic |
| 23 | State Sovereignty Erosion | 28.5 | Political |
| 24 | Global Economic Stagnation | 27.9 | Economic |
| 25 | Supply Chain Collapse | 27.8 | Economic |
| 26 | Geoengineering Disasters | 27.5 | Technological |
| 27 | Multilateral Institution Collapse | 26.3 | Political |
| 28 | Space-Based Event | 23.4 | Environmental |
Across all regions, environmental risks emerged as the highest priority, with climate change inaction and large-scale pollution both seen as highly likely and highly severe.
Climate change inaction was the most important risk overall, ranking as the most pressing issue in three of the seven regions.
In total, 84% of respondents said mis- and disinformation is already occurring, making it the most immediate risk today, according to the UN.
Mis- and disinformation also ranked as the top risk in the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report.
While environmental concerns were top of mind for all regions, other perceptions varied by region. For example, in North Africa and Asia, concerns about cybersecurity breakdowns and artificial intelligence (AI) were among the top 10 risks, unlike in other regions.
Cybersecurity breakdowns were among the least prepared-for risks, with a preparedness score of just 3.9 out of 7. The only risk the world is less prepared for is a potential space-based event.
To learn more about risks the world is facing in the near and long term, check out this graphic that visualizes the top global risks, as ranked by the World Economic Forum.
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